Linda Porter

Most fans of veteran character actor Linda Porter knew her best for the last role of her life, as Myrtle on the hit sitcom "Superstore" (NBC, 2015-). Born Linda Schandler in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933, Porter was active in theater from childhood, appearing in plays at school and as a member of local theater troupe the Curtain Pullers. When she eventually enrolled at Bennington College, Porter took the opportunity to study a wide range of subjects ranging from philosophy to modern dance, but her love of acting nonetheless drew her most strongly toward the drama department. Porter graduated in 1955 and went on to earn a master's degree as well. She became a teacher, eventually relocating to Los Angeles with then-husband rock DJ Martin Perlich, and became highly respected within the Los Angeles unified school district, even chairing a committee to evaluate all of the district's Title 1 programs. Porter also gave birth to three boys-including future character actor Max Perlich-before she and Perlich divorced. She remarried Bruce Porter in 1974, and kept his surname as she began the next phase in her career roughly a decade later. Having earned her retirement as a public school teacher in the mid-80s, Porter began attending auditions, quickly capturing the hearts and imaginations of casting directors with her deep sense of character and infectious comic timing. She made one of her first on-screen appearances in the comedy hit "Twins" (1988) and quickly began booking appearances on popular TV series including "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS, 1984-1996), "Frasier" (NBC, 1993-2004), "Melrose Place" (Fox, 1992-99), and "The X-Files" (Fox, 1993-2018). Porter continued to act in feature films as well, notably playing Mrs. Crabberman in the comedy "Dude, Where's My Car?" (2000). She also memorably portrayed the recurring character of Fran Westin on the beloved series "Gilmore Girls" (WB, 2000-07) in addition to appearing on numerous other popular shows throughout the 2000s and 2010s including "Scrubs" (ABC, 2001-2010), "King of Queens" (CBS, 1998-2007), "My Name is Earl" (NBC, 2005-09), "American Horror Story" (FX, 2011-), and "2 Broke Girls" (CBS, 2011-17). In 2017, Porter worked with the legendary David Lynch, playing a woman addicted to slot machines on his limited follow-up series "Twin Peaks" (Showtime, 2017), but by this time, she was also already a series regular as the forgetful retail employee Myrtle on "Superstore." Porter had completed her fourth season on the series when she succumbed to cancer and died in September of 2019. She was 86 years old.